None On Record

Young Feminist Activism

Organizing creatively, facing an increasing threat

Young feminist activists play a critical role in women’s rights organizations and movements worldwide by bringing up new issues that feminists face today. Their strength, creativity and adaptability are vital to the sustainability of feminist organizing.

At the same time, they face specific impediments to their activism such as limited access to funding and support, lack of capacity-building opportunities, and a significant increase of attacks on young women human rights defenders. This creates a lack of visibility that makes more difficult their inclusion and effective participation within women’s rights movements.

A multigenerational approach

AWID’s young feminist activism program was created to make sure the voices of young women are heard and reflected in feminist discourse. We want to ensure that young feminists have better access to funding, capacity-building opportunities and international processes. In addition to supporting young feminists directly, we are also working with women’s rights activists of all ages on practical models and strategies for effective multigenerational organizing.

Our Actions

We want young feminist activists to play a role in decision-making affecting their rights by:

  • Fostering community and sharing information through the Young Feminist Wire. Recognizing the importance of online media for the work of young feminists, our team launched the Young Feminist Wire in May 2010 to share information, build capacity through online webinars and e-discussions, and encourage community building.

  • Researching and building knowledge on young feminist activism, to increase the visibility and impact of young feminist activism within and across women’s rights movements and other key actors such as donors.

  • Promoting more effective multigenerational organizing, exploring better ways to work together.

  • Supporting young feminists to engage in global development processes such as those within the United Nations

  • Collaboration across all of AWID’s priority areas, including the Forum, to ensure young feminists’ key contributions, perspectives, needs and activism are reflected in debates, policies and programs affecting them.

Related Content

Type

How much does registration cost?

This information will only be available when registration opens. 

Snippet FEA Carmen Silva (FR)

Ocupação 9 de Julho

Lorsque vous arriverez au centre-ville de São Paulo, vous verrez le bâtiment Ocupação 9 de Julho (Occupation de l’Avenue du 9 Juillet), un espace culturel et un site important dans la lutte pour le logement social.

C'est le travail du Mouvement des Travailleur·euses Sans-Abri (Movimento dos Sem-Teto do Centro, MSTC), un mouvement de plus de 2000 personnes qui agit dans le centre-ville et convertit les espaces abandonnés en logements pour les travailleur·euses à faible revenu, les enfants, femmes, adultes, personnes âgées, migrant·e·s et réfugié·e·s. Dans ce bâtiment en particulier, 122 familles sont nourries et logées.

Snippet - WITM Provide members - EN

Provide AWID members, movement partners and funders with an updated, powerful, evidence-based, and action-oriented analysis of the resourcing realities of feminist movements and current state of the feminist funding ecosystem.

Identify and demonstrate opportunities to shift more and better funding for feminist organizing, expose false solutions and disrupt trends that make funding miss and/or move against gender justice and intersectional feminist agendas.

Articulate feminist visions, proposals and agendas for resourcing justice.

START THE SURVEY

What languages will be included in the Forum?

English, French, Spanish and Mandarin.

Snippet FEA ASOM (EN)

Association of Afro-Descendant Women of the Northern Cauca

Black women community organizing in the Cauca Valley in Colombia can be traced back to the country's colonial past, which is marked by the racism, patriarchy, and capitalism that sustained slavery as a means to exploit the region’s rich soils. These organizers are the heroines of a broad movement for black autonomy - one that fights for the sustainable use of the region's forests and natural resources as vital to their culture and livelihood.

For 25 years, the Association of Afro-Descendant Women of the Northern Cauca (Asociación de Mujeres Afrodescendientes del Norte del Cauca, ASOM) has been dedicated to bringing power to Afro-Colombian women’s organizing in northern Cauca.

They became established in 1997 as a response to ongoing human rights violations, the absence of public policies, inadequate management of natural resources, and the lack of opportunities for women in the territory.

They have forged the struggle to secure ethnic-territorial rights, to end violence against women, and gain recognition of women’s roles change-making peace-building in Colombia.

Who should participate in the survey?

Groups, organizations and/or movements working specifically or primarily for women, girls, gender justice, LBTQI+ and allied people’s rights in all regions and at all levels, both newly formed and long-standing.

What happens to the activity proposals submitted through the CfA?

  1. Activity proposals will initially be screened by AWID staff.
  2. Organizers of shortlisted proposals will then be invited to participate in a voting process, to choose among the shortlisted activities. Those with the most votes will be included in the Forum program. AWID may make a few adjustments to the final selection to ensure our program has an adequate balance across regions, constituencies, issues and methodologies.  
  3. Our Forum Content and Methodology Committee will reach out to the organizers of selected proposals to support them in further developing their activities.

We will update the outcomes of this process in the website in due time.

Snippet FEA Mano Cambiada (ES)

Two hands shaking - lighter skinned hand with a yellow shirt and darker skinned hand with a burgundy shirt. The words "Mano cambiada" are written over in cursive.

MANO CAMBIADA

Término de las comunidades negras del Norte del Cauca para la minga, el trabajo colaborativo en fincas, basado en el apoyo mutuo y la solidaridad.

Les droits des femmes et l’égalité de-s genre-s – La rubrique ‘Point de mire’ sur TheGuardian.com

Nuestra agrupación, organización o movimiento no ha tomado ni movilizado financiamiento de donantes externos, ¿deberíamos responder la encuesta?

¡Sí! Reconocemos y valoramos las distintas razones por las que los feminismos en sus contextos respectivos no cuentan con financiamiento externo, ya sea por no reunir los requisitos para solicitar donaciones o para recibir dinero del exterior, o bien porque se financian con recursos generados de manera autónoma como estrategia política en sí misma. Deseamos saber de ustedes con independencia de su experiencia de financiamiento externo.

Do I need a visa to attend the Forum in Taipei?

You DO NOT need a visa to attend the Forum in Taipei if you hold a passport from one of the following countries (the allowed length of your stay varies from one country to another):

Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Eswatini, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan*, Republic of Korea, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Marshall Island, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Palau, Paraguay, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tuvalu, the United Kingdom, the United States of America,and Vatican City State, Belize, Dominican Republic, Malaysia, Nauru, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Singapore.

People with any other passport WILL NEED A VISA to come to Taipei.

Please note:

It is likely that, once you have registered to attend the Forum, you will get an event-related code that will allow you to apply for your visa electronically regardless of your citizenship.

We will let you know more about this when the Registration opens.

Snippet FEA Environments Of Shelter (FR)

Metzineres fournit les types de soutien suivants, connus sous le nom de

Environnements d'abri :

Remembering: A Tribute to WHRDs no longer with us

AWID honors feminists and Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRDs) who have died and whose contributions to the advancement of human rights are very much missed.

Celebrating Activists and WHRDs

AWID’s WHRD Tribute is a photo exhibition featuring feminist, women’s rights and social justice activists from around the world who are no longer with us. 

The Tribute was first launched in 2012, at AWID’s 12th International Forum, in Turkey. It took shape with a physical exhibit of portraits and biographies of feminists and activists who passed away. The initiative was described by Forum participants as being a unique, moving and energizing way to commemorate our collective history.

At the 13th International Forum in Brazil, we honored activists and WHRDs with a mural unveiling ceremony in four languages, a dance performance and a Brazilian ritual.

In between the events, the Tribute lives as an online gallery that is updated every year as part of the 16 Days Campaign Against Gender Based Violence (25 November – 10 December).

Contributions from all over the world

Since 2012, through our annual Tribute to Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRDs) no longer with us, over 400 feminists and WHRDs from 11 regions and 80 countries have been featured. 

AWID would like to thank the families and organizations who shared their personal stories and contributed to this memorial. We join them in continuing the remarkable work of these women and forging efforts to ensure justice is achieved in cases that remain in impunity.

Visit the WHRD Tribute online exhibit

The violence and threaths against WHRDs persist

In addition to paying homage to these incredible activists, the Tribute particularly sheds light on the plight of WHRDs who have been assassinated or disappeared.

One third of those featured in the Tribute were activists who have been murdered or disappeared in suspicious circumstances. They were specifically targeted for who they were and the work they did to challenge: 

  • State power
  • Heteronormativity
  • Fundamentalisms
  • Corporations
  • Patriarchy
  • Organized Crime
  • Corruption
  • Militarization…

Women like Agnes Torres, from Mexico, was killed because of her gender identity and sexual orientation; or Cheryl Ananayo, an environmental activist from the Philippines was assassinated as she struggled against a mining company; or Ruqia Hassan, a Syrian independent journalist and blogger killed for her criticism of ISIS. And so many others.

With the WHRD Tribute, we bring them all into our collective memory and carry their legacy of struggle as our torch in the feminists’ and women’s rights movements. We recognize that security, safety and self-care must be a priority in all our political agendas. And we call on to governments and international bodies to collectively address violence against feminists and WHRDs.

We believe this is a critical step to ensure the sustainability of our movements for gender equality, women’s rights, and justice for all.

Visit the WHRD Tribute online exhibit